Each year, the United States honors the contributions that Latinos have made to our country with a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration that runs from Sep. 15 to Oct. 15. The Art Center is pleased to co-host the annual kick-off celebration again this year with the Western Colorado Latino Chamber of Commerce and Hispanic Affairs Project. This is a free event for the community, featuring music and dance performances, the presentation of the Hispanic Advancement Award, and keynote speaker Aline Silva, pastor at Koinonia Church.

Each year, the United States honors the contributions that Latinos have made to our country with a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration that runs from
more...0 Sep. 15 to Oct. 15. The Art Center is pleased to co-host the annual kick-off celebration again this year with the Western Colorado Latino Chamber of Commerce and Hispanic Affairs Project. This is a free event for the community, featuring music and dance performances, the presentation of the Hispanic Advancement Award, and keynote speaker Aline Silva, pastor at Koinonia Church.

Gearing up for Mental Health: Grand Junction, aims to de-stigmatize mental health and put it on equal footing as physical health. The event starts
more...0 with a short bike parade through town and is followed by a Wellness Fair where nonprofits and organizations focused on mental, behavioral, and physical health will be tabling. We will provide lunch, free of charge for all, and will have family-friendly activities (including a face painter and bouncy castle). Join us with your bike and open mind!

The Moab Folk Festival and Back of Beyond Books present “An Evening with Dar Williams” on Saturday, September 16th at 7 PM in Star Hall.
more...0 Dar’s performance will include a reading from her new book. Tickets are available at www.moabfolkfestival.com/dar-williams and in Moab at Back of Beyond Books 83 North Main Street. Regular seating tickets are $18 in advance and $20 at the door. A limited number of VIP tickets are available and include priority seating and a personally signed copy of her book. VIP tickets are $38 in advance and $40 at the door.
Dar Williams is a renowned folk musician and composer based in the Hudson Valley who has sold millions of albums and toured across the United States. Williams is also a well-known environmentalist and social justice advocate. You can learn more at www.darwilliams.com
Dubbed by the New Yorker as “one of America's very best singer-songwriters,” Dar Williams has made her career not in stadiums, but touring America's small towns. She has played their venues, composed in their coffee shops, and drunk in their bars. She has seen these communities struggle, but also seen them thrive in the face of postindustrial identity crises.
In WHAT I FOUND IN A THOUSAND TOWNS: A Traveling Musician’s Guide to Rebuilding America’s Communities—One Coffee Shop, Dog Run, & Open-Mike Night at a Time (Basic Books; on sale September 5, 2017), Williams muses on why some towns flourish while others fail, examining elements from the significance of history and nature to the uniting power of public spaces and food. Drawing on her own travels and the work of urban theorists, Williams offers real solutions to rebuild declining communities.
She traveled to and writes about dozens of towns and small cities across the U.S. that have taken steps to cultivate what she calls “positive proximity.” By embracing their public spaces, drawing on their area’s unique attributes and identities, and allowing all willing citizens to put their gifts and talents to good use in the commons of town, these locations have become the types of places in which communities are vibrant and joyous—and the economic benefits have followed.
Williams talks to local officials, small business owners, academics, and residents who spend their free time getting involved in their communities. She explores elements as diverse as the local significance of history and nature to the uniting power of public spaces and food. Readers ride along with her as she meets engaging local characters, attends concerts and fundraisers, and basks in the natural beauty of these regions. And she shows that small steps can build into big changes: dog runs and simple public spaces made Beacon, New York, buzz again; a unique, locavore food and wine culture transformed the Finger Lakes region into a foodie’s heaven; blazing bonfire celebrations and sci-fi film festivals have turned Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, into a place where everyone wants to live; and Moab, Utah’s “most beautiful dump” competition put it on every nature-lover’s map when local leaders were out of other ideas for economic development.
By celebrating the creativity, hard work, and determination of average people who want to build something meaningful, WHAT I FOUND IN A THOUSAND TOWNS offers a roadmap for other communities seeking to do the same.

Summer time is one of the best seasons to get outside and be physically active, but physical health is not the only health we should be thinking
more...0 about this summer - mental health is health. That's why we are pedaling through 3 cities to raise awareness.
Healthier Colorado’s event “Gearing Up for Mental Health” is a free community event to raise awareness for mental health. The event starts with a bike parade around downtown followed by a wellness fair which includes fun, family-friendly activities (including face-painting, bike decorating, and a bouncy castle), free lunch, and information about local and statewide mental health and wellness resources.
RSVP here!

Denman is a notable guitar protégé of Pepe Romero. His playing is precise, beautiful, and passionate His compositions are distinct, yet
more...0 uniquely Americana. In the past few years, professor Denman has become one of the most celebrated guitar pedagogues of his generation. He travels the world sharing his love of the guitar.
Crouse received her Masters degree and PhD in music studies at Indiana University under the tutelage of acclaimed director Vincent Liotta. She also studied with Metropolitan Opera star Carol Vaness and the vocal pedagogue Paul Kiesgan in New York City. She joined the faculty of the prestigious Wanda L. Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University in 2012. She also maintains a private voice studio for professional singers, and she is an active performer in the Oklahoma City area singing jazz, classical, and musical theater repertoire.

Matthew Denman, notable guitar protege of Pepe Romero, and Dr. Courtney Crouse, mezzo-soprano, will be performing works of Manuel de Falla, Purcell,
more...0 John Dowland and Dominic Argento on Sept. 19th at 7:30 PM in the Moss Performing Arts Center on the CMU Campus. Tickets will be general admission: $20.00 at the door, or $15.00 if purchased before the event. Tickets will be available at Roper Music, Back Porch Music and Hart Music stores. Matthew and Courtney are members of the Classical Guitar Duo: Crouse Denman. They perform classical guitar and vocal music throughout the U.S. and Spain and are planning a European tour for the summer of 2018. This program is sponsored by the Western Colorado Classical Guitar Society in conjunction with the CMU Music Department. Please join us for a great night of music.